Earwig condo

I built an earwig condominium today. Yes indeed, a co-housing shelter for earwigs. Why? Well, earwigs are good hunters and predators for all kinds of pests in gardens and orchards! I like to have them around, so they can prevent harmful little critters from taking over my crops. How did I build that condo for them? I used a clay flower pot, a piece of iron wire and some hay. I turned the iron wire in a coil, put the hay (can also be straw) in the pot, put the coil over the hay and worked the end of the iron wire through the hole in the bottom of the pot. Now I can hang this earwig dream in a tree and let them enjoy it. Earwigs like moist warm places and like to be close to their meals as well. They are active during the night when their own predators (birds) are less of a danger.

When earwigs live in my pot, I can hang it where I want. Do the beans have lice? Then I can move some earwigs over to a bean pole. Are my apples in trouble? Then some of my helpful friends are going to move to the orchard. The earwig condo is easy to make, and the more you hang of them the better!

Did you know that it is a myth that they crawl in human ears? And did you know that the female earwig is one of the few insects that takes care of her eggs and the little ones after they are born?